Northumbria awarded double AACSB accreditation

Northumbria University, Newcastle has today become the first university in Europe to achieve accreditation for both its business and accountancy programmes by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

The University’s Newcastle Business School first received AACSB accreditation for its business programmes in May and AACSB has announced today (Monday 18 August 2014) that its accounting programmes have also met its rigorous accreditation standards.

The announcement places Northumbria in the unique position of being the only university in Europe to gain a double accreditation for business and accounting from AACSB International – placing Newcastle Business School firmly within an elite group of less than 1% of business schools worldwide. AACSB International is the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.

Achieving accreditation from AACBS involves a process of rigorous internal review, evaluation, and adjustment which can take several years to complete. Over this time, the school develops and implements a plan to meet AACSB’s Accreditation Standards, which demand a high quality teaching environment, innovative programming, and active engagement with industry.

"AACSB congratulates Northumbria University and Executive Dean, Kevin Kerrigan, on earning AACSB Accreditation for its accounting programmes," said Robert D. Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International.

"Executive Dean Kerrigan and the Faculty, directors, and staff of Northumbria University are to be commended for their role in earning accreditation in accounting, as well as for maintaining excellence in their overall business programmes.

"It takes a great deal of self-evaluation and determination to earn both accounting and business accreditation, and I commend Northumbria University for its dedication to management education, as well as its leadership in the community," said Reid.

"Through accreditation, Newcastle Business School has not only met specific standards of excellence, but has also made a commitment to ongoing improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver high quality education to its students.”

Professor Andrew Wathey, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria University, Newcastle, said: “This is a unique achievement which places us in the very top echelons of Business Schools worldwide, and firmly at the forefront of business and accounting education in Europe.

“This globally recognised accreditation reflects the quality of our research-informed teaching and the University’s focus on graduate employability, innovation, excellence and impact. It will allow Northumbria to collaborate with those other leading institutions that have achieved AACSB accreditation, creating a globally significant group of Business Schools.”

Kevin Kerrigan, Executive Dean for Business and Law programmes at Northumbria University, said: “Securing double accreditation in business and accountancy is incredibly rare and extremely challenging. Over the past 10 years we have been making fundamental improvements across our programmes, quality assurance processes, student recruitment, partnership development and staff qualifications.

“Our success enhances our reputation as one of the best business schools in the world and makes us the first in Europe to achieve the double. It’s been hard work but we are all enormously proud of the prestige this brings and of the opportunities it affords our students and staff.”

AACSB Accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business and accounting education, and the combined accreditation has been earned by less than one percent of the world's business and accounting programmes. Of approximately 16,000 institutions worldwide offering business degrees, only 181 institutions have achieved AACSB Accreditation for both business and accounting programmes.

To achieve accounting accreditation, an institution must first earn or maintain AACSB Business Accreditation. Then, in addition to developing and implementing a mission-driven plan to satisfy the business accreditation quality standards, accounting accreditation requires the satisfaction of an additional set of accreditation standards that are specific to the discipline and profession of accounting.

Newcastle Business School is based in an iconic state-of-the-art city centre campus in the heart of Newcastle. It also offers courses at the University’s London campus, giving the School a presence in the UK’s two top cities for students. It has been recognised by Times Higher Education as one of the top-rated universities for the provision of business and management education in the UK.

The Small Business Charter, which brings leading Business Schools and SME communities across the UK together, has awarded Northumbria University’s Newcastle Business School the Small Business Charter Award in recognition of its active participation in supporting start-ups, students and small businesses.

Newcastle Falcons’ club captain and member of the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA), Will Welch, swapped his playing kit for academic robes this week as he joined the latest graduate cohort at Northumbria University, Newcastle.